Photographs provide one of the most tangible visual records of places, events, and people. Accordingly, interest in photographs and photography has greatly increased, especially in recent times, which have seen an explosive growth in the popularity of photography both as a profession and as a hobby for an increasing number of amateur photographers. As interest in photography has increased, cameras and camera equipment in general have become increasingly sophisticated. The focus has been to make cameras easier to use by even the most inexperienced photographers while still providing excellent quality photographs. Many cameras today have computer control and automatic focusing features to take the guesswork out of taking pictures, especially for the novice photographer.
One problem that has always plagued photographers, and a problem which still exists despite the technological advances in autofocusing and control of cameras, is the problem of the photographer maintaining the stability of the camera while taking photographs. Most high quality cameras are somewhat heavy and are often bulky, such that even the steadiest photographer can have difficulties in keeping the camera stable. Movement of the camera, even inadvertently, tends to effect a blurring of the picture being taken, often causing the picture taken to be of poor quality or often useless.
The traditional solution to this stability problem has been to use a camera stand such as a tripod on which the camera is mounted to stabilize the camera and to minimize movement. Conventional camera tripods generally include a head to which a camera is mountable and a series of three telescoping legs that support the head and that fold together when not in use. An example of such a conventional camera tripod is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,666,112. The problem with such conventional tripods is that they generally are bulky and cannot be retracted into a tightly compacted configuration for ease of transport and storage. Additionally, such conventional tripods are not easy to use as it is often difficult to adjust all three legs quickly and easily to the proper length needed to mount the camera at a desired elevation. If the legs are not all fixed at approximately an equivalent length, the tripod stand tends to become imbalanced or tilted from the vertical, diminishing the stability of the stand as well as the picture composition.
Attempts have been made to provide tripod camera stands having legs of a fixed length which are retractable into a tight, compact configuration for easier storage and transport. An example of such a compact tripod is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,632,073. However, a significant drawback of such compact tripods is that to enable the tripod to retract into a compact configuration, the tripod is necessarily limited in height, which limits its utility to use on platforms, tables, etc., in order to support the camera at a desired elevation.
One of the most popular types of camera stands introduced in the past several years is the "camera unipod". The unipod is a single leg structure formed from a series of telescoping sleeves or rods, which enable the unipod to be retracted into a compact configuration for easy storage and transport. A camera mount is attached at one end of the unipod, with a footpad mounted at the opposite end. An example of such a camera stand is shown in U.S. Pat. No. Des. 257,259. The unipod is designed to be an adjustable and easy to use camera support that is retractable into a compact configuration for ease of storage and transport. The problem with the unipod is, however, that since the unipod only has one leg for support, it is much less stable than conventional tripods, and must be held by the user. Such a lack of stability is especially a problem when used on uneven or broken ground and the unipod tends to lean or move with the movement of the photographer. There are, moreover, no currently available means for supporting and stabilizing unipods, and conventional tripod camera stands are not adaptable to receive and stabilize a unipod.
Accordingly, it can be seen that it would be desirable to provide a compact, stable camera stand that is able to receive and maintain optical equipment such as a camera unipod in a stable, supported arrangement for taking pictures.